Spring Wildlife Part I

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With all the rain and cooler weather we've had in the last few months, the spring bloom has been quite beautiful here in Irvine. However all things must come to an end and now that the warmer weather has arrived, the spring bloom is starting to fade. My brother and I set out on our bikes with our cameras to capture as much of the floral beauty before they all turned brown. Here is a shot of the Mustard flower which turns the hillsides yellow,

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California is usually a dry desert landscape except for a short time after the spring rains. The usual brown hills turn a lush green and yellow as wild flowers bloom with a burst of color. One of my favorite wild flowers is the Lupine. I often see it growing on hillsides. It is actually a member of the legume family and grows pea pods. There are many other flowers that I photographed here, but I do not know the names of.

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8 ) Allen's Hummingbird.


9) A Western Fence Lizard. During mating season it will stand up on his legs and expand it's throat area to flash some color to attract a female.


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12) Monarch butterfly.


13) Along our bike ride, we ran across a few of these Stink Bugs as they scampered across the road. When disturbed, they stick their faces into the dirt and point their bottoms up in the air as a warning. If they are continued to be harassed then they will release a noxious chemical spray from their rear ends. This little fellah was not happy about me trying to take its photo.



14) My little bro, Richard. He's getting into photography now and so it's fun going shooting with him.



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